OK, wouldn't there be a loop-hole that we do not do this for commercial or private financial gain? I"m no lawyer, but to me there is plenty of proof that I and the majority of us here don't do it for money. Just curious.

I thought that too, until I read the very last sentence, the key being the "OR":

or possesses for any of such purposes, a recording of a live performance with the knowledge that the live performance was recorded without the consent of the owner, shall be punished as provided in section 143E.

or possesses for any of such purposes, a recording of a live performance with the knowledge that the live performance was recorded without the consent of the owner, shall be punished as provided in section 143E.

Continue to read that

Quote

or posses for ANY OF SUCH PURPOSES

Meaning the purposes of commercial or private financial gain???

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"The guy who's been dissed, dismissed and demoted so often that he should have officially changed his first name to "Backup." "

3. Knowingly and willfully and without the consent of the performer, to transfer to or cause to be transferred to any phonograph record, disk, wire, tape, film, or other article any performance, whether live before an audience or transmitted by wire or through the air by radio or television, with the intent to sell, or cause to be sold, or to use or cause to be used for profit through public performance or to be used to promote the sale of any product or such article onto which such performance is so transferred.

i'm no lawer, but, as long as your tape isn't up for sale(by you or anyone else), there should be no problems.

Exactly - that's the impression I get from the majority of the statutes posted here. There are very few states that make the actual act of recording, or possessing, or trading a recording illegal; most of them require intent to profit from the recording.

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Unofficial Blues Traveler archivist - glad to work on any BT or related recordingsarchive.org admin - happy to upload tracked material to the LMA

What about recording a cover song for an album? (ie: if I record a cover song with my guitar, burn it to CD as part of an album, then sell it on a website) Do I need to get permission from the songwriter? or just acknowledge the copyrights in the liner notes? or ?? Has anyone ever done/researched this?

Exactly - that's the impression I get from the majority of the statutes posted here. There are very few states that make the actual act of recording, or possessing, or trading a recording illegal; most of them require intent to profit from the recording.

Here's the problem though. If a law criminalizes recording for profit and johnny law sees you recording, he's not going to wait 'till you're done and ask you to prove that you were, in fact, recording for profit so he can charge you under the statute. Instead, he's going to presume you are recording for profit and charge you under the statute then and there. After being charged, you have the dubious task of proving to the prosecutor/court/etc. that you were not recording for profit and thus not in violation of the statute. Once you hire a lawyer to defend you, appear in court, etc. you'll likely wish that you were recording for profit to pay the bills.

Exactly - that's the impression I get from the majority of the statutes posted here. There are very few states that make the actual act of recording, or possessing, or trading a recording illegal; most of them require intent to profit from the recording.

Here's the problem though. If a law criminalizes recording for profit and johnny law sees you recording, he's not going to wait 'till you're done and ask you to prove that you were, in fact, recording for profit so he can charge you under the statute. Instead, he's going to presume you are recording for profit and charge you under the statute then and there. After being charged, you have the dubious task of proving to the prosecutor/court/etc. that you were not recording for profit and thus not in violation of the statute. Once you hire a lawyer to defend you, appear in court, etc. you'll likely wish that you were recording for profit to pay the bills.

S

good point. but "inosent until prooven guilty" should be able to be defended by any public defender, no problems. still waists your time and all.

The prosecutor would have the burden of proof to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Of course -- successful prosecution would be all-but-impossible if a requisite element of the crime could not be proved. However, the issue I'm raising isn't a conviction under the statutes/ordinances/regulations, but rather the hassle and expense that would be involved with "beating" such a conviction.

(1) fixes the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord, or reproduces copies or phonorecords of such a performance from an unauthorized fixation

Is there anyone in here that can translate Lawyerese?

Would my master be considered fixing the sounds or sounds of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord?

Phonorecord

A term used in legal definitions to refer to physical recordings of songs, such as vinyl LPs, cassette tapes, and compact discs.

Technically, a material object in which sounds are fixed by any method now known or later developed, and from which the sounds can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device (U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Section 101).

(1) A person who, without the consent of the owner of the right to record a live performance, records or causes to be recorded the live performance on a phonograph record, compact disc, video disc, wire, tape, film, or other article on which a live performance is recorded with the intent to sell the article on which the live performance is recorded or to cause the same to be sold for profit or to be used to promote the sale of any product commits unlawful recording of a live performance.

(2) In the absence of a written agreement or law to the contrary, the performer or performers of a live performance are presumed to own the rights to record the live performance.

(3) For purposes of this section, a person who is authorized to maintain custody and control of business records that reflect whether the owner of the live performance consented to having the live performance recorded is a competent witness in a proceeding regarding the issue of consent.

(4) Unlawful recording of a live performance is a class 1 misdemeanor.

(5) As used in this section, "live performance" means a recitation, rendering, or playing of a series of images, musical, spoken, or other sounds, or a combination of images and sounds, in an audible sequence.History

§ 4116. Copying; recording devices.[...] (d.1) Manufacture, sale or rental of a recording of a live performance without consent of the owner.-- 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly manufacture, transport, sell, resell, rent, advertise or offer for sale, resale or rental or cause the manufacture, sale, resale or rental or possess for such purpose or purposes any recording of a live performance with the knowledge that the live performance has been recorded without the consent of the owner.